Waverly Caswell and the Princess of Aerovera
by FateRogue
Summary: Young orphan Waverly Caswell writes stories to escape the loneliness of her life, and one night, she makes a wish that changes her life forever. It sends her spiraling into a world so like the one she wrote, but different, more...alive. She journeys with her two main characters, Luke and Lyra Mason, to save the princess of Aerovera, Callidora, and fix the ruin she created.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is something we had to do for our library class. We had to write a ten chapter story, five to ten pages per chapter, and the teacher had us center it all so we would have to write less. We each got a prompt, and mine was to write a book/story for middle schoolers. I was going over it in my docs and discovered that, once out of print layout, there is only a thousand or so words per chapter. It's nowhere near as long as my usual standard, but since this is how it is written and I have a lot to copy and paste, the chapters will be fairly short. I hope that doesn't bother anyone. Once I begin writing on it again I think the chapters might get longer, or they might not. Who knows? I hope you enjoy it, anyway, however, and that you review and tell me what you think.**

 **Note: I had to label it under books and Harry Potter (I decided that was best due to the magic, I suppose, but perhaps I should have used Narnia) in order to upload the story. There is no HP in this. Well...actually, maybe. Harry has terrible luck and might just fall out of a portal in the sky, who knows? *Shrugs***

I sat alone in class, in my own personal secluded corner far, _far_ away from the idiots I had deemed (very original, I know) The Blockheads. And I don't mean they have literal block heads, because that would be crazy. No, they just have no sense and like to sit at the front of the class so they can mess with the teacher and cheat off the smarter kids. Which, that's perfectly fine and all. Except for the fact that they're just so _loud,_ and it's ridiculous.

"Settle down," called our teacher, Mr. Stanley. He didn't seem very enthusiastic; poor guy, I actually felt sorry for him. He probably started out the year excited to be teaching a new group of students who were ready to learn, but instead got us. "Come on, stop talking, you've got work to do!"

Jacob Marley (the leader of his band of idiots) turned around in his seat and pressed a straw to his lips. I knew what was coming and hastily flipped my folder up in front of my face; I could feel the slight impact of something hitting it and carefully lowered it. I peered around the side and could clearly see the spitball there, stuck to the front of my otherwise perfect folder, and winced.

 _Stupid boy,_ I inwardly grumbled, shooting him a glare as I poked the spitball experimentally with the tip of my pencil. _Ugh. He could've picked anybody else…_

I finally managed to use my pencil to flip the spitball from my folder and set it back on the desk. Mr. Stanley was looking pretty distressed, and it only got worse as the class got louder; they never listened to him, anyway. Why would they? He's pretty spineless, no offense. I mean, he's okay and all, but he really needs to learn to stand up for himself sometime. No one will listen to him otherwise, not unless he puts his foot down.

I glared at Jacob Marley one last time, before I pulled out my notebook and pressed the pencil to the paper, turning my eyes to the words that had been written there. I loved to write, and I was constantly making up different stories just the way I liked them: strange. Well, not strange so much as different, but still. I liked to write to escape the reality I lived in, where I was a lonely little orphan girl who hated the majority of the people in her town.

Everyone was so _basic,_ and basic is _boring,_ I'll tell you now. Everyone here is completely satisfied with their bleak little town and their bleak little lives, where everyone knows everyone and helps everybody else.

I'm not from here, here as in Strong City, Kansas, where everything is completely and utterly _flat._ Sure, there are hills and stuff, but what I miss are the mountains of my old home, in Wears Valley, Tennessee. I'd lived there until I was thirteen, when they shipped me off here to live with my drunk, hardly ever home foster parents, Dean and Marla. I'd only ever socialized with them when they were in and completely plastered, so my impression of them wasn't the best.

I'd tried to be optimistic when I got here. Really, I did. But when you had foster parents like Dean and Marla Kidd, and had classmates like Jacob Marley, you couldn't help but lose all hope for anything good to come out of the move.

 _I wonder what would've happened if I had stayed…_ I twirled my pencil between my fingers and shook the thought, because I already knew. I would have still been alone, but at least then, I'd have had the mountains to run away to. _Whatever. What's done is done, and I'm stuck here until they move me again._

I pressed my pencil to the paper again, hoping that I could maybe start a sequel for my last story, but for right now...well, I'm out of juice. My thinker no longer wants to work for me, and I'm starving.

 _Great. And there's still….a half an hour until lunch. Ugh._ I dropped my head onto my now folded arms and groaned softly. _What I wouldn't kill for a burger._

I lifted my head and decided to preoccupy myself by flipping through the pages of my notebook, reading through what I already had so far.

See, this particular story involves my main character, Luke Mason, who just happens to be an orphan like me; I relate better to him that way. He and his twin sister Lyra had escaped their own foster home and discovered that there were evil warlocks out to get them, and these warlocks were coincidentally the same ones who had killed their parents.

So, they had run into an old, abandoned manor and hidden. Right before the warlocks found them, however, Lyra tripped and fell into a wall; the wall had turned like a revolving door, and both she and Luke had been thrown to the other side. On that other side, they discovered another dimension (dimension, world, land, whichever) called Aerovera, and found themselves stuck with a small, talking purpled rabbit named Kyuri. They had no way out and were sure the warlocks were following them, so they fled and made many odd friends and enemies along the way. They fared pretty well in the new world, to be honest, and had even made friends with the princess of the land, Callidora.

Like I said, everything went reasonably well, until the warlocks, Hisao and Raiden, kidnapped the princess and took over the kingdom, thus forcing Luke, Lyra, and many of the citizens of Aerovera to flee and go into hiding.

I left off there. I hadn't been able to think up anything else yet, so I hadn't written anything in a week. Honestly, it was killing me, not being able to write, but since I had writer's block, I wasn't getting anywhere soon.

I tapped my pencil against the desk and bit my lip, frowning down at my notebook as I thought hard. Maybe I could….no. Or I could just have them…. _no._

I groaned in frustration, and when the bell rang, quickly packed my things away, slung my bag over my shoulder, and made a break for the bus.

Thankfully, I managed to find an empty seat and slid in near the window, depositing my bag beside me so no one could sit there. I hated sitting with other people, and the ones that rode my bus were nothing short of obnoxious.

I leaned my head against the cool window, watching the landmarks fly by as the bus trundled on, ignoring the loud chatter and shrieks coming from everywhere around me. I closed my eyes to wait it all out.

~~~xxx~~~

I awoke to the bus jerking to a stop, and I leapt from my seat, grabbing my bag as I glanced about wildly. I hadn't missed my stop, had I? I felt a panic rise within me as I took in the unfamiliar surroundings; almost all the other kids were gone, and I was only the tenth or eleventh stop at most.

 _No! No, no, no….Dean and Marla will kill me!_ I bolted from the bus, all but throwing myself down the stairs when the doors open, and when it slowly rolled away, I regretted it. I felt the first raindrop hit and sighed, pulling my hood over my head. _Just my luck._

I trudged on for what felt like hours in what I hoped was the right direction, and it seemed that for once I knew what I was doing, because the house I stayed in was only a short ways up the road.

The rain was pouring when I made it to the door, and almost immediately, Marla was in my face before I'd even made it inside.

"Where've you been?" she demanded, and I cringed at the smell of her breath; Bud Light, and lots of it. "You were supposed to be cookin' dinner by now!"

"I fell asleep," I tried to explain, taking a step back. "I missed the stop, and then it started to rain…"

"I don't care! Get those muddy boots off and get in here now!"

She stormed into the house, and I sighed and slid off my boots, leaving them on the porch, before I made my way inside. Marla was already waiting in the kitchen, and she rapped me sharply over the head with a wooden spoon; I flinched.

"Get to work."

"But—" I made to protest, but she cut me off with narrowed eyes.

"What did you just say to me?"

' _Uh oh.'_

I swallowed. "But?"

This was rewarded by another hit with the spoon, this time on my cheek. When she pulled her arm back, I raised my own to gingerly touch my cheek.

"I'm sorry," I gritted out, ignoring the stinging pain on my cheek. "I'll get to work now."

"You better," Marla told me furiously, before she waved the spoon in my face one last time and left the room. I sighed again, but got to cooking.

When I was finished, I was sent straight to my room for "back-talking" without any of the dinner I had prepared, and Dean had came in not even twenty minutes ago and eaten it all, like usual. So, now I'm laying in my bedroom, staring blankly at the ceiling as I think.

You'd think I'd have had friends at one point, right? Wrong. Even as a kid, I was always a bit of a dreamer and the others thought I was too weird to play with; _now,_ the others thought I was just some sort of loner freak who hated people. Which, this was pretty true, but sometimes…

Sometimes it isn't fun being alone. Especially not for as long as I have. No friends, no family to speak of, not even a dog; just me. Just me, left alone for years with people like Dean and Marla Kidd, who were in it just for the check and didn't care about their charge at all.

That's one reason why I write so much, as I said; to escape. I escape to a different world where _I_ make the rules, and where I have friends who care about me, no matter how imaginary they are. If Luke and Lyra were here, I'd never have to worry about being lonely again.

I rolled onto my side and hugged my pillow tightly, feeling considerably upset. _Why me?_

I could feel my eyelids begin to droop, and in my lethargic state, I was barely able to finish my last thought before I drifted off.

 _I wish they were real._


	2. Chapter 2

When I awoke, the sunlight streaming in through my window was blinding, and I groaned as I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow. My alarm was going off and had yet to stop, which was extremely annoying. I flung out an arm and blindly batted at the clock until the alarm finally stopped, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

 _Wait a second…_

I lifted my head and squinted at the numbers on the clock. 6:30 AM?

I frowned. _But I set it for 5:00, unless...no!_

Marla had reset the clock to punish me even further.

I leapt from the bed in a panic, hastily throwing on whatever I could find before skidding into the bathroom with my shoes untied. I brushed my teeth in record time and made a break for the living room, where I grabbed my bag and flung it over my shoulder. _The bus will be here any second!_

I made a break for the door just in time to see the bus slowly passing by the house, and I almost tripped as I sprinted after it, yelling, "Wait! Hold up, I'm right here!" Luckily for me, I was heard by the driver and the bus gradually came to a stop, the doors squeaking open. I bounded up the steps and quickly found a seat, all but collapsing into it and running a hand through my hair to tame it.

"That was a close one," I muttered, bringing my legs up so that I could tie my shoes.

The ride passed by quicker than I thought, and the next thing I knew, I found myself stepping off the bus and following a crowd of students into the school.

I maneuvered my way through the halls and finally made it to my English class, where I swiftly found a seat in the back and pulled out my notebook. I twirled my pencil between my fingers as I stared at the page, which read:

 _Luke and Lyra exchanged worried glances._

" _How will we get to Callidora?" asked Lyra, frowning. "I mean, Hisao and Raiden have probably got her locked up tight, and they're sure to be after us by now, too."_

" _I don't know," her brother responded with a heavy sigh, and ran a hand through his hair. "But we HAVE to find her. You know that. She's our friend, we just can't abandon her."_

" _We could, actually!" piped up Kyuri, gnawing anxiously on a twig he had found. He let out a nervous sounding giggle when the twins leveled glares at him. "I mean, I love Callie too, I do, I really do, but I kinda like living…"_

" _She's our friend," repeated Luke firmly, and the rabbit's ears drooped. "And she'd do the same for us. So no, we won't abandon her."_

 _Lyra leaned back. "She's probably holed up in her castle, in the dungeons somewhere. I know Hisao and Raiden have already claimed Aerovera, so what's to say they haven't locked her in her own dungeon to remind her who's really in charge now?"_

 _Luke hummed in agreement, brows furrowed in thought. "So we'll just have to sneak into the castle."_

" _Probably. But we'll need a good plan to get in."_

" _And out!" Kyuri yelled, smacking a paw on the cave floor. His nose twitched furiously. "We need a way out, numbskulls!"_

" _Calm down," Lyra rolled her eyes. "Of course we'll find a way out. Right, Luke?"_

" _Uh…I'm sure we'll think of something," Luke mumbled back, cheeks flushing. In truth, he had not thought of that yet. He had only been thinking of ways to break_ _ **in.**_

 _His sister swatted at him._

I made to press my pencil to the paper, but was interrupted by our teacher, Mrs. Cage, waving a hand and calling for order.

"Everyone," she announced. "We have two new students here with us today—"

 _Great,_ I thought, inwardly rolling my eyes. _More people to avoid._

"And they have transferred from...where did you say, again?"

"Ae—" began the voice of a boy, but there was the sound of a smack and he quickly corrected, "Tennessee."

"Oh?" Mrs. Cage sounded interested. "Where from?"

He cleared his throat. "Wears Valley."

My head snapped up at that. There was no way anyone from Wears Valley could be here, or at least, there shouldn't have been. Who would willingly move to Strong City, anyway?

But my eyes found the boy, and the breath caught in my throat.

Ruffled, dirty blonde hair, tan skin, bright blue eyes, strong jaw and broad shoulders….

Could it be…? No. There was no way. They weren't _real!_

"And would you mind introducing yourself to the class, please?"

The boy turned to face everyone, and I noticed that the girl who stood just behind him looked remarkably like him, but with a sharper jawline, high cheekbones, slightly darker eyes, and hair that fell to the middle of her back. This only made my heart beat faster, and I waited with bated breath as the boy opened his mouth.

"Luke Mason."

I choked. _There's no way this is him, this has to be a coincidence...a very screwed up coincidence…_

"And your name, dear?"

The girl's eyes found mine, and she gave me a impish smile before replying, "Lyra."

My pencil fell from my fingers and clattered to the floor, and I hastily leaned over to pick it up, before casting my eyes upon my notebook. _There's no way this is happening...I mean, it would happen in one of my stories, but this is real life, no matter how much I wish it isn't—_

My thoughts were interrupted by the squeaking of two desks being moved, and when I lifted my head, I found myself face to face with Luke and Lyra Mason, who had pulled their desks up close, both turned backward so that they were dead in front of me and facing me.

I don't know how they had convinced Mrs. Cage to allow it, but that wasn't what I was worrying about right now; no, the objects of my concern were directly in front of me and watching me with clear blue eyes.

"We need to talk," said Lyra, and I swallowed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope** **you're enjoying it so far, and here's chapter three!**

We operated under the guise of doing some group work, where I was "catching them up on what they've missed." I didn't know if it really looked that way or not, but I wasn't about to say anything considering Mrs. Cage hadn't said anything about it yet.

"Alright," I found myself demanding in a whisper. "Why are you here? And why did you say you're from Wears Valley?"

"It's where we were created," offered Luke before Lyra could open her mouth, possibly to make a much more deadpan remark. "Where you created us, that is. So Lyra and I thought to use it instead of looking up a bunch of things."

"Okay." I frowned. "But how are you here? You're not supposed to be...well…"

"Real?" I nodded at him. Luke shrugged. "Don't worry about offending us, we know. You made a wish last night, didn't you?"

"A wish? I didn't—" I stopped short. I remembered now; I _had_ made a wish last night.

"Exactly," Lyra cut in, drumming her fingers on the desk. "You made a wish last night, and here we are. Don't ask how, because we'nre not too sure about that ourselves." She furrowed her brows and exchanged a glance with her brother, before turning her attention back to me. "But we do know that we need your help."

" _My_ help?"

"Yes."

"My help with what? Do you need me to write more to the story, or—"

"What we need," she interrupted me, though not unkindly. "Is for you to come back with us and help us save Callidora."

"Me?" I couldn't believe it. First, two of my characters had mysteriously come to life because of some wish I made, and now they were trying to get me to follow them _back_ into the story? This was crazy! "You're kidding, right? I can't just wish all of us back into the story, you know, and I don't think she's in any danger yet if I haven't written anymore."

"But she is," insisted Luke, who leaned forward on the desk to grasp me by the forearms. I flinched back on instinct, and he winced as well and carefully slid his hands away. "Sorry."

"It's fine. What were you saying about Callidora?"

"Even though you haven't written anymore, the story still goes on in our world, for what you're bound to write in the future. Or, something like that. So right now, we've got no idea what could be happening to her, and Aerovera needs her. The people are scattered everywhere, and some were trapped in the castle, I think. The servants, that is."

"How would we even _get_ there?" I slapped my hands lightly on the desk in frustration. None of this made sense! "I mean, we can't just create a portal—"

"We could always go to the manor," It was Lyra who interrupted me, leaning forward and whispering earnestly. "You know, the one that got us there in the first place. I know it's real."

"Look, Waverly," said Luke, also leaning forward. "I know this all seems crazy, but _you_ made us; _you_ made that wish. That's why we're here. _You._ And we need your help, okay?"

' _I don't know about this.'_ I bit my lip, thinking hard. I mean, I could always help, sure, but there would be a few...complications. These would be:

The manor, Blackwell Manor, is in Hotchkiss, Colorado.

It's eleven hours away.

We have no way to get there.

I'm sort of broke.

We'd have to break into the manor, and find the specific wall they fell through, if it was even there.

If there really _is_ magic in the world, maybe I have some sort of power as a writer? Was it just my wish, or me in general if it wasn't my writing?

I sighed. I mean, this is all so weird...but kind of cool, I can easily admit. I mean, what other writer can wish for their characters to come to life and have it _actually_ happen? None, that's what. This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, though; I've got no idea how long they'll last here, or if this will ever happen again.

 _So, I guess that means…_

"Okay," I told them, tilting my head back to stare at the ceiling in resignation. "I'll do it. But you _do_ realize we have no solid plan, right? No money, no way to get there, and then we'd have to find the manor."

"Uh…" Luke glanced at Lyra, who frowned back at him. "I didn't—"

"You live with your foster parents, right?" she cut across him. Slowly, I nodded. "Take their money, then."

"I can't steal their money!"

"You can! I mean, they're just a couple of drunks, right? How else do you think they get the money for everything?"

"I _know_ , but I…" I didn't feel right even thinking about it. Not because I would feel bad, because I wouldn't, but because it would mean I'd have no place to stay if they found out. Besides, I feel like Dean would _literally_ kill me. "I just can't."

"Look," Lyra sighed exasperatedly. "They never get anything for you, do they?"

"No, but—"

"And they never give you an allowance for the things you do, do they?"

"No, but—"

"And have they once ever given you birthday money?"

"No, but—"

"Or let you even _see_ the check you're supposed to get?"

" _No, but—"_ This was only growing increasingly increasingly frustrating the more I was interrupted, and if Lyra noticed, she did not care.

"Then why not? We take the money, board a train or something, and get to Hotchkiss and find the manor!"

I groaned and looked to Luke for help, but it appeared he was on the same side as his sister, as always.

"Sorry," Luke said apologetically, shrugging. "It's a good idea, and if we do take the money we'll have enough to at least get there and find the panel in the wall of the manor to get through."

"I can't take it!" I was all but whisper-yelling now, so that they could understand how serious I was. "If they find out it's missing, I'll be kicked out, and besides that, Dean will probably kill me for it!"

"I don't think he'll actually—" he tried, but I silenced him with a look.

I knew full well what Dean Kidd was capable of, because not only was he a drunk, he was a sadist. I'd seen him shoot at the neighbor's dogs for fun, and tie two cats together by their tails and hang them over the clothesline to watch them claw at each other. All of them ended up dead. So, what's to say he wouldn't do the same to a person?

"I can't."

"Then we will."

"What?"

"We'll do it. Lyra and I will get in there today and take the money. All you have to do is tell us where it is. That way, if we're caught all they'll find is a couple of strange kids who just moved here trying to steal their money."

That was...actually not a bad plan. But they'd be furious…

"Well?" Lyra watched me closely. "Does that sound good?"

...but then again, it wouldn't be at me, so I'd just be sent to my room.

"Alright," I admitted defeat. Before they could cheer, I interrupted them, "But not tomorrow. We need to come up with a plan first, like how we'll get there and what we'll do if we're caught. _And_ what we'll do once we're in Aerovera...wait a second, do you have a place to stay?"

I couldn't very well offer them a room at my house, but I was still wondering now if some sort of house had mysteriously popped out of thin air just like they did, ready for them to use it at their convenience.

Lyra just smirked.


End file.
